Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Some social scientist came out with a study saying that moms have 30-40 hours of free time.IMO, that is a loose definition of the term “free.”

Our nanny will concur -- when my baby is napping, he could sleep an hour, he could sleep two hours, he could start wailing ten minutes after I put him down. I have to be prepared for all of these eventualities -- this so-called “free” time is not free of worry.You know what I mean if you’re a parent, because even though you may get a few spare minutes here or there, the kid doesn’t fax you a schedule ahead of time and he doesn’t give you a heads-up when his needs are going to change.

The notification that you are on duty isn’t at all subtle or polite. Who the heck made these baby experts experts -- they don't know jack!

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Our errands today in the Galleria area today sparked a memory from two weeks ago.When I encouraged a restaurant I was fond of as child, only to find it not-so-baby-friendly.

We try to be conscious of our baby’s moist pants during our gallivanting, taking turns changing him.And as old as this particular restaurant is, I assumed a baby station in the men’s room would be a stretch.So, off to the ladies room we went!

I opened the door to discover a TINY bathroom. It was about 5 feet long and 3 1/2 feet wide. The sink was small enough to fit INSIDE my diaper bag. And, of course, no baby station!My only option was the dirty bathroom floor, which I just couldn’t stomach -- even with the roll out diaper pad to put between baby and tile.

So I did a total MacGyver move. I squatted down and braced myself against one wall, placed the diaper bag on the floor and Reef across my bent legs. I changed his diaper balancing on the balls of my feet and holding his wriggly body in place.And I did it all in less than a minute.

You would have thought I’d just won the lottery from the smile on my face as I exited the bathroom. I was AWESOME y’all.

As I slipped back into my seat next to my Panky, with my clean, dry baby balancing on my thigh, I mentally added the “Creative Diaper Changing” badge to my invisible momma sash.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

How did this happen? You becoming half a year? Your daddy and I have been entranced this week.Wondering where the time went.And how we went from being pregnant to now.It seems like you’re already losing your round baby belly, little boy, and now you are growing into a tangle of arms and legs. Nearly 90% for height, oh my!Yet you’re somehow still made of soft edges and dimples, round cheeks and curled lips.

I am forever swinging between thinking ahead to the exciting days of the little-bit-older you, and wishing with everything in my heart I could keep you forever as you are now.You talk and talk in your tiny high-pitched voice and I know someday I will have a hard time remembering just what you sounded like when you were this small.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

I've got an obsession with this rose gold-dipped lace ring by Auriele Bidermann, but I can't afford it. Er, rather I can't justify spending the money on an itty bitty ring. Check it out, nonetheless -- it's so feminine!

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

there is a reason you can’t find true love on a tv show.because it grows best in the quiet times.when there are no cameras, no prying eyes, no people there to watch it.it grows in the slow breaths and long silences of a car ride.in the short distance between his shoulder and mine.real love is not a fairy tale.it is not perfect.it is flawed and difficult.it hurts like hell sometimes.real love takes weeks and months and years to become.it knows the story behind your scars, your greatest fear, and what you looked liked at twelve.true love isn’t a contest.it’s the most unforced and natural of all life’s possibilities.it’s what happens when you let go of precedents and expectations.and reveal all of yourself, privately and wholly to another soul.save tv shows for design contests and cook offs,

Monday, January 16, 2012

My Trivia updates informed me that the guy that invented the Marconi radio telegraph system was named GuglielmoMarconi. I don’t know Italian very well but I’m pretty sure that’s pronounced “Googley – Elmo”. I cannot say this name out loud without giggling.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

i’ve been in what i call a “mom funk.”the days seem like they are flying by me, and i’m not getting the quality out of life that i should be.i suspect it’s coming down from the high of Christmas celebrations.and i sorta remember having these emotions in the past.

so, i came up with a few ways i’ve broken out of this in the past. “me time” doesn’t always mean exercise, fresh air, quiet, solitude.although, those things do help in the short term, “me time” leads to just craving more and more “me time” to find peace, and “escape” is not a great long-term solution to creating contentment. breaks are nice, but they naturally come to an end, and sometimes the thing your kids need most when they’re making you crazy is to know they can make you crazy and you’re still crazy about them.

sit on the sofa, let kids pile around and just have an epic snuggle

play a board game (and feel free to let them “win.”)

read a book to them.

take that walk, but let it be one of those dawdling, long strolls you tend to have when there's a child wanting to look for a huge stick along the wooded path or another child stopping to look at a train of ants carrying twice their size

bake. bake with your kids. something about mixing up flour and sugar and chocolate chips with my kids is so relaxing, and reminds me of the more important things in life. like cookie dough.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

A colleague recently asked me how we are able to be friends, given my religious perspectives and her gay lifestyle. I was certainly surprised. This question prompted me to bolt out a sarcastic “duh” but I opted to bite my tongue.

Yes, you see, I believe we should have open hearts to accepting and valuing all people.

I teach my children that love is love and I have also spoke openly about the fact that we are believers in Christ. We have an open intimate relationship with Him. There are, however, many conflicts within my religion about the acceptance of the LGBT community and specifically gay marriage.

Personally, I feel there are people who twist the Bible scriptures. They use God’s word to point fingers. They use it create a you and an us. These manipulations of the Christian faith are not the standard perceptions of all Christians.

So in the same way that some Christians say that the Bible says homosexuality is wrong (but turn a blind eye to the fact that it also says divorce, greed, jealousy and eating shellfish is a sin) -- we have chosen to take the core messages of God’s word -- to love thy neighbor, to practice patience, to give of yourself, to spread goodness, to share the beauty in His word and the sacrifices that He made for mankind -- and use these things as the basis for what we will teach our children. God is good. God loves us. We are all His children. He is always with us.

I’m not writing this post to point fingers at anyone (there’s been enough of that already). I don’t write these words to invite criticism or to create a heated debate on interpretations of the Christian religion (although I suspect it might anyway). I write this to try to explain how the LGBT community can live in harmony with my religious beliefs.

It comes down to this: We are all sinners. And God loves us anyway. The same.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

And trust me, I have totally psychoanalyzed the crap out of it to determine why.

I had a blog idea brewing for earlier this week, and then clicked on one of the many blogs in my blogroll and saw the exact same topic already written out. Crap! So I did what any narcissistic blogger would do and delved into my archives... searching for a post to submit... and came up empty. Wah-wah-wahhhh.You see folks, I am not a poetic writer. I realize that I don't hypnotize anyone with my prose. I'm pretty much bare bones. I tell stories. About me. About my life. About being a mother. A wife. A friend. A working woman. A product consumer.

There's not much here that constitutes artistry. A flowing of words that entrances you with their splendor.

Nope.

What am I doing with this space?!?!?!

But then I remembered WHY. Why I blog. What I get out of blogging.

I do this for me.

And?

For you.

I want my readers to laugh. I want my readers to shake their heads in agreement. I want you guys to say, "ah, that's exactly how I feel but couldn't put it into words." I want to share my experiences with parenting and products, because as you know, everyone tries to sell you. I want my readers to understand that they are not alone. That I, like you, have been there. That no one is a perfect parent. That no one has perfect children. That no one has a perfect body. Or a perfect home. In all its splendor and glory, sometimes life stinks. It's beautiful and rewarding, but motherhood isn't all it's cracked up to be at times. It is hard, yo. But on the heels of that, be a friendly reminder that our kids do some pretty magnificent things. Magical even. That it's okay to serve cheerios for dinner every once in a while. That our husbands rock! And that we're beautiful, oh so beautiful...just. the. way. we. are.

Friday, January 6, 2012

I love to support small businesses. But I find that I keep having to search out the next one because small businesses sometimes have the opportunity to “go big,” and then you don’t get return emails with product questions answered, and it’s beyond frustrating.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

What I can’t believe the most is that I’m not there to celebrate it with you at school. It breaks my heart to be away from you on this day, the day that changed my life forever.

You were not an easy child to bring into this life -- you took your sweet time being born -- 29 hours of labor. I like to think it was that you felt safe being in my tummy as you were and maybe you just didn’t want to leave.

You haven’t left my side since.

I’ve watched you grow from the day you were born. I’ve loved you and supported you and kissed on you…but you know what? You’ve done the same thing for me. If I’m down, you are the first one to step in with a hug and the words “I love you”. You are my rock, as I am yours, and I don’t know what I would do without you.

You are such an outstanding little man. So open to new challenges, so willing to go out on a limb, so determined, so focused, so amazing.

I look at you and I see great things. I see love, I see compassion, I see hope for the future….

But most of all I see you and I see all the possibilities in front of you. Embrace them, take on the challenges and just GO FOR IT. Because that, my sweet boy, is what life is all about!

I love you more than I could ever tell you…and I am so proud of you my heart could burst with pride.